Don't Forget From Whence You Came
by BlackPensils
Summary: "Who's baby is that?" Dadan may not be the smartest woman in the world but she wasn't stupid. The dots were connecting in her brain, as the threads were weaved together to form a clear picture of a very illegal family - Or how Dadan ended up with the Gol D. family living underneath her roof. - Canon-divergent
1. Who's baby is that?

**The whole naming convention of regarding stories is a talent I will never learn. I mean, how do you name a story? How do you?**

 **Anyway, this is just an idea I got some time ago. What would happen if Roger hadn't died and Rouge had been alive to raise their son - together, as a family? On Mt. Colbo. With Dadan and the bandits. That would be great, wouldn't it?**

 **And I know I tagged Luffy in this, but that is because he will be an important figure in the story, but not until much later. I hope you understand why and won't be too bothered by his absence for a while.**

 **Disclaimer_ I don't own One Piece, it all belong to Eiichiro Oda - may he never suffer writers/art block!**

* * *

'Dadan stared wide eyed at the couple in front of her. The woman she'd never seen before, she was sure she would have remembered a pretty little thing such as her, especially one with that odd shade of strawberry blonde hair and the freckles that covered her tan skin. The man, however… Now that was a face anyone in the world would recognize. The curled black mustache with that huge grin that was presented on his wanted poster, the unruly black hair that looked dry as straw. This was the alleged Pirate King, Gold Roger at her doorstep with some random woman holding a baby and Marine vice-admiral Monkey D. Garp at his side while he was waving at her as if they were old acquaintances.

"Thank you for taking care of us," the Pirate King said, tilting his head to the side.

"Wha- wha- WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Dadan exclaimed. Was this a prank? Was she being pranked?

But no, apparently it was the real deal and Garp, for whatever unfathomable reason, was actually a crucial part in helping to hide the two away from the world. The very same Pirate King that the world believed dead was very much standing at her very doorstep very much alive. The only reason for this it turned out was the baby in the woman's arms, a small dark haired thing in a blue jumper who was snuggled up against her chest and sleeping soundly.

She froze. "Who's baby is that?"

Now, Dadan may not be the smartest woman in the world and may not have finished school, but she wasn't stupid. Instead of scholarly knowledge she had street smarts; And she doubted that anyone would need much smarts to figure out the situation standing before her. The dots were connecting in her brain, as the threads were weaved together to form a clear picture of a very illegal family. The only thing that stood out was Garp.

"That's my son, of course," the Pirate King beamed proudly, chest jutting out, shoulders raised and hands on his hips. His grin was like a flashlight, bright and happy.

"Dadan, you're going to be hiding them," Garp said, not even bothering to stay as he said it. Only shouting behind him, "Don't get in any trouble! Or the kid will be in danger."

"Yeah, yeah!" Roger laughed after him.

"I'll keep him out of trouble," the woman reassured, casting a side eye glance at Roger with a smile.

And that was how Dadan ended up with the Gol D. family living underneath her roof.

* * *

"You'll be sleeping here," Dadan said, showing them to one of the upper rooms. It was already crowded, but none of the Dadan bandits wanted to piss off Roger or the woman, whose name turned out to be Rouge, in fear for their lives.

She'd had some of the bandits clean one of the storage rooms and pull in three mattresses. It was as luxurious as they could make it. They may be bandits but they weren't rich; And considering the size of the Dadan family and the size of the hut-like house they shared not everyone were given a mattress to sleep on. Most of the time they just slept atop of each other in a huge pile with the only exception being Dadan herself.

"All to ourselves?" Roger asked, looking around. Dadan blinked, confused.

"Well, best for the baby…?" she muttered, a nervous laugh followed. "I figured you wanted privacy?"

"Nah, no need for that," Roger said. "I used to sleep with the crew all the time."

Rouge rolled her eyes at him, but turned to Dadan with a smile. "This'll be great, it's very much appreciated. Though we do need a crib."

"We are short on… cribs at the moment," Dogra said from beside Dadan.

Roger made a quick scan of the room. There were a few crates stacked near the far corner of the room - there had only been so much they could move from the room without running out of space to put it. He walked over to one and pried the lid off as if it had been made out of paper. He scanned the inside and dumped a whole bunch of wool on the floor. He then started refilling the box with care, padding the sides, making sure the bottom was properly cushioned. When he was done he stood up and dropped the crate at their feet.

"There," he said, grinning like a mad man. "A baby crib…" At Rouge's raised eyebrow, he added, "... Sort of."

"You're going to have the kid sleep in a box?" Dadan asked.

"Till we get a proper one."

Dadan had no response to that and could only nod dumbfounded. Her entire view of Roger, a man who had held, still held, the title of the Marines Most Wanted, _the_ Pirate King, feared and dangerous, had been shattered in the span of ten minutes. She had expected a dark, maybe a little brody, definitely hard cut and easily angered, a man the bandits would have to walk on eggshells around for many years to come. Instead here stood a man whom she couldn't quite find the right words to describe.

"Make yourselves at home," Dadan said, slowly backing out of the room. Dogra following her.

* * *

"Boss, is that…?" one of the bandits asked as they were gathered in the main room. It was well passed dark and Dadan had made sure to wait till she was certain that their new living companions were asleep to have the meeting.

It was heavy in the air and the bandits were sitting with tense shoulders, everyone listening for any sound that may come from upstairs. So far all they'd heard was snoring, very loud snoring. But that didn't ease the minds of the bandits. They were just meters away from one of the world's most wanted men along with said man's wife and child. A very, very illegal child.

"What's gonna happen now?"

"What if the marines find out?"

"We'll be dead for sure!"

"Oh my god! We're going to die!"

"QUIET!" Dadan barked. The entire room froze so fast and got so silent that it might as well have been empty. They weren't even breathing until they heard the rhythmic sound of, most likely Roger's, snoring; And everyone let out a sigh of relief. "Quiet…" Dadan said again in a hushed whisper.

The bandits had a point. They were currently in the worst position possible. If they were found out, they would all be executed for not only helping the Pirate King but also for hiding him. Staying low had suddenly become a so much higher priority than ever before. But they had one thing working for them.

Monkey D. Garp. The vise admiral himself.

It had been Garp who had dumped the family on them, which would definitely be against his marine code. That meant that he was their safest link while also being the most risky. Why Garp decided to hide Roger and his family was beyond anyone's understanding. The baby was definitely a factor, but helping a baby and helping Roger was very different and definitely held very different risks.

It was a tricky situation for sure. But right now there was nothing they could do to get out of it.

"We'll have to make it work," she finally said.

Just as those words left her mouth a loud baby wail came from upstairs: And it dawned on the bandits that this was their life now.

* * *

 **This will mostly be a slice of life sort of thing with cronological chapters. So we're starting from the very beginning. I will not miss any of the opportunities that this would hold. Just imagine the scenarios that could happen! There is so much potential. It's just hilarious to think of how the bandits would react to not only housing the Pirate King's son, but him and his baby mama, too! I will have too much fun with this.**


	2. Day 1 - It's a struggle

**I know there are going to be questions about a lot of things that happens in this and I promise all of them will be answered in due time. But remember that this is a slice of life story and not all that plot driven - yet - and that the focus is more our dear Royal Pirate couple getting used to their new life.**

 **And thanks to all of you lovelies who liked, favored or reviewed the story.**

 **I also want to inform you that this story is cross posted on AO3 (archive of our own, for those who don't know the site) by the same name, just incase something in future chapters breaks the rules on this site you will always be able to find the uncensored version over there.**

* * *

Rouge wasn't sure what she should think of her new living conditions, it was small and bland. It lacked any charming characteristics and smelled of tobacco, sweat and beer - all of which drowned out the natural scent of nature that surrounded the mountain. The room they'd been given was dusty, cramped and while she really was grateful for the privacy, she wasn't sure she liked the general environment she would be raising her child in. The room lacked any form of bed not counting the poor excuse for mattresses they'd been provided, there were no central heating - she could feel the draft from the wall -, she had a strange suspicion that the house lacked modern plumbing and they lacked all the basic necessities to take care of a baby.

She sighed.

She missed her cottage back on Baterilla. While it wasn't much bigger than the bandits house, it did provide central heating, comfortably warm beds and it even had a room prepared for Ace. Everything had been perfect, and then they'd been forced to leave it all behind.

This was going to take some getting used to; The isolation they'd been forced into, because they couldn't live in a populated area without risking someone recognizing Roger - his face was everywhere despite that stupid propaganda the marines had feed the public. No, to keep Ace safe they had to run, far away to where they would be safe; To find a place where Ace could grow up safe and with a relatively normal childhood despite their circumstances . She just wished that that childhood didn't have to involve bandits.

But it was all worth it, she told herself; And it was. It was all to keep Ace safe. If they'd stayed on Baterilla there would have been nothing keeping the marines from capturing them and she didn't want to think about what would have happened to Ace if that were to happen. He was just a baby, barely two months old and he had already spent his short life on the run. He didn't deserve anything the world was throwing at him.

She looked at Roger, he had helped one of the bandits - a man whom she didn't catch the name of who looked like a rooster - carry in a pile of blankets and extra pillows. He had stressed that they wouldn't need it, but the bandits had insisted.

Roger was a special man. She had never met one like him before and she was sure that her life would be different if she had never met him. There was the obvious, that she wouldn't be in hiding and on the run from the law with a child who by existing was considered a criminal. But her life wouldn't have been so adventurous without him. She would still be living in her cottage on Baterilla in South Blue, sure, but she would also be going through the same old routines she'd always done.

An uneventful, boring life.

And then Roger had waltzed into her life with his red coat and contagious grin and easy nature. She couldn't have found a better man. There were only so many pirates who would leave the seas with the possibility of never being able to return just to stay with family.

Rouge had no regrets about the decisions she'd made.

Roger dropped the pillows he was carrying on the mattresses and smiled at her. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm okay," she said. "It's just much to take in."

He put his hands on her arms and looked at her with those eyes, those loving eyes that he reserved just for his loved ones. "I know it's a lot, but we can do this." He smiled down at the still sleeping babe - _his son_ \- still in her arms and ran a finger over his buttony nose. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

She believed him. He had proved to her so many times that he was trustworthy.

He had given her so much to be grateful for; Love, adventure and family. Never had she been happier than when she'd held Ace in her arms for the first time or when she saw Roger holding him for the first time. He'd had tears in his eyes and the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face.

Speaking of said baby…

"We're not having him sleep in a box," Rouge said, casting an eye on the makeshift _'crib'_ Roger had made.

"Where else will he sleep till then?" Roger asked. "I don't want to risk crushing him while in my sleep."

It was true Roger was not only a blanket hog - though he would argue that Rouge was much worse - but also a starfish when it came to sleeping. There were moments where she'd woken up just from him falling out of bed in his sleep - without waking up, mind you. She'd found him in plenty of funny positions since she'd met him.

"But a box, Roger?" Rouge asked with a shake of her head.

"He'll be fine, he's too young to notice," Roger said, taking Ace from Rouge.

He walked over to the box and carefully placed the boy inside. The baby laid there on the soft wool, his head falling to the side and his hand coming up to his mouth.

"See, perfectly safe," Roger grinned. She just looked at him. "Don't you think you need a good night's sleep?"

He was right, of course. After the long trip from South Blue to East Blue, which hadn't been the easiest of journeys to take with a newborn baby, Rouge was in desperate need of sleep. Especially sleep that wasn't accompanied by the rocking of the ship that caused Ace to wake up every hour and to spit up way too often to be considered normal.

"Alright," she finally said. "But by the end of the week I want a baby crib, and not some box with stuffing." She gestured to the box in which Ace was still sleeping soundly. Rouge wasn't the only one who had needed some steady ground under her feet.

* * *

Despite the drafty walls and their unpredictable roommates, Rouge slept better than she'd done since she'd left Baterilla, despite Ace having woken up halfway through the night. In fact, she'd felt relieved when she'd fallen asleep, wrapped around Roger with his strong arms around her. In light of everything that had happened, their situation wasn't the worst. She had both of her boys with her, no one she cared about had died and, most importantly, they were together as a family and _they were safe_.

* * *

Dadan hadn't slept a wink during the entire night. When she believed that it would finally be silent the baby started to wail again, waking the entire house. Some of the bandits who had gotten so fed up with the noise had grabbed their shit and camped out in the bath house, much more willing to take the heat than the noise. Dadan, however, had remained seated by the fireplace and filled the room with the smell of smoke. Not from the fireplace, because she hadn't even had the energy to light it, but from the small mountain of cigarettes building next to her.

The vein on her forehead had stopped pulsing halfway through the night. It was almost as if her headache had gotten too tired to bother anymore.

When the silence had stretched on for almost ten minutes, she looked up - eyes red and purple bags underneath - at the roof. Had they finally gone back to sleep? Would she finally be able to get some rest? After who knew how many hours of screaming, would she be able to lay her head on the pillow and fall right into the sweet, sweet arms of sleep?

Her hope died down when light filled the room as the front door opened and a small group of bandits came in yawning.

"Man, I'm stiff…" one of them said holding his side.

"Yeah, but at least we didn't have to listen to that thing all night," another one said.

"Morning, boss," they all said in unison as they walked past Dadan and into the kitchen.

* * *

Roger, it turned out was pretty much the equivalent of an idiot; And it had not taken the Dadan family long to figure this out. For starters, he was nothing like the papers had described him. The dangerous criminal with the power to conquer the world and shake the government off its axis was not the same man who had taken refuge in her house.

The first day with the Dadan bandits was probably one of the most awkward days the bandits had experienced in their lives. Roger, much to the bandit's surprise, wasn't aware of any awkwardness. He inserted himself into the group as if he'd always been there, he joined conversations, offered to look for food, had no problem - as the bandits quickly found out the moment the man found out that the animals in the forest around them were borderline prehistoric in size - to run straight into said forest with little to no regard for his own safety. They had all stared after him in shock and been unsure if they should follow him or not.

"Leave it, if he wishes to die then let him," Dadan said, lighting another cigarette. The clock hadn't even passed 10 am yet.

"He'll be fine," Rouge said. She was sitting on her knees before the baby - Ace, as his name was - who was lying on a blanket on the wooden floor. She was changing his diaper.

The bandits raised an eyebrow. She didn't seem at all concerned about the dangers in the forest, or the danger it posed to those who dared go in and that there was the risk of Roger not coming back. That was in fact the very reason that they lived up here on the mountain in the first place, because the likelihood of being followed or discovered was so small.

"The beast's in the forest are nothing to take lightly," Dogra said.

And they really weren't. Some of the animals on Dawn island grew up to be the size of some of the houses in Goa kingdom, and not the small ones in the outer city. No, the big ones from the inner walls. There were many stories about people going up Mt. Colvo and not coming back down, people being swallowed whole and houses being trampled when one of the animals would find its way down the mountain and into the city.

"Yes, he might get ripped to pieces," one of the bandits said, grinning wickedly. Wouldn't that solve half of their problems.

"Yes," another one agreed. "Limb from limb, if he's not eaten whole."

"Might not even find a body."

Snickering filled the room as the bandits came up with gruesomer and gruesomer scenarios that might happen.

"He's dealt with worse," Rouge said, glancing over her shoulder at the bandits. "Much worse."

Her words didn't have any effect. The atmosphere in the room slowly started to change and the gleam in the bandits eyes slowly taking on a dangerous glint. They looked at each other and then at Rouge. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were thinking. Roger wasn't there - probably eaten whole by some ravenous anima l-, leaving Rouge all alone with the bandits. To them Rouge looked like a fragile thing in her dress and neatly brushed hair and kind smile. Wouldn't be hard to get rid of her, they thought.

Slowly they walked closer to her, clearly readying to catch her by surprise.

Dadan took a long drag of her cigarette. She wasn't going to help, she didn't want the pair in her house. It would be a relief on her part if she could get rid of them. She had no interest of living in fear for the next few decades.

"Boss, what would Garp say?" Magra asked.

She paled at the thought of what Garp would do if he found out that the pair was dead, though she couldn't see him be much bothered by Roger not being around anymore. But Rouge and the baby?

She shivered.

Garp was the only one that kept them out of prison at the moment, for whatever sentimental reason he found legit, and he must have dropped the small family on them for a reason. No matter what that reason was, they could use the small family to their advantage as a shield.

A bandit had walked up behind Rouge and reached out for her shoulder. He had a dagger in his hand.

"Oi, you idiots!" Dadan started, ready to stop them from signing their death sentence. She never got to finish.

What happened next happened so fast that the bandits weren't exactly sure what had happened. But the next thing they knew, their comrade had been flung across the room and through a wall. Rouge was standing up, her arm outstretched in front of her as if she'd just thrown a ball. She sent a glare out at the rest of the bandits who dropped whatever weapon they'd held in their hands.

They all paled, as Rouge smoothed out her dress and sat back down and went straight to tickling Ace's bare belly. He let out a gurgled laugh.

The cigarette dropped out of Dadan's mouth.

* * *

Roger loved new islands. There was always an adventure somewhere on them, secrets just waiting to be discovered.

Now, East blue wasn't known for its excitement, it wasn't under the title of _"weakest sea"_ for no reason and he could agree that life in East blue wasn't much to brag about. The most excitement he'd had in this part of the seas had been on Loguetown when he'd decided to leave to be a pirate. In fact, Loguetown was probably the only town in East blue who was known for having a rowdy reputation. He remembered the parties that they would hold in the slums or the fights that would break out in the many pirate relient bars. Like a jungle in the middle of a city.

After three decades sailing the Grand line and most of those years having been spent in the New World, going back to East blue had been hard. Not because he held some grudge against it - he would probably feel the same way about going to any of the other three blues - but because he had no idea of how long it would be before he could return to the sea. Roger had no qualms about leaving the pirate life behind to raise his family in a safe environment, but he knew the moment he made his decision that he would be missing the Grand Line and the life he'd lead there. He was a pirate through and through after all. Which was why when he had learnt that the animals on the island grew to be incredible size's he had spared no second in finding out if it was true or not.

This was just another adventure on his long list. There was no way he was passing this up. Exploring a new island, raising a kid, living with bandits on a mountain surrounded by a forest which was supposedly filled with huge animals who could all swallow you whole? How could he say no to that? The forest with its large three's that most likely reached up to a giant's kneecaps, the many different types of plants and the sounds reminded him of the many jungle islands in the Grand line.

He couldn't wait to bring Ace here when he was older, teach him how to fight and fend for himself. The tree's were thick, though easy enough for him to break. They would be good to practice punches on, both for him and for Ace when he grew up - because there was nothing that could stop him from training the boy to fight and it would be good for him to know how to defend himself.

Yes, he could see it. Cooking over an open flame, sleeping under the stars and telling him stories of all that the world had to offer.

It would be great.

The bushes behind him rustled and a low growling stopped him in his tracks. He grinned, finally!

A large wildcat jumped out from behind the bushes, and sure enough, it's mouth was as large as Roger was with paws that would crush him underneath them with their size. It's roar rattled the ground he walked on and he could hear birds flying away above them.

His grin widened.

* * *

When Roger came back to the house, dragging the large cat behind him - he could hardly wait till it was cooked, though he was disappointed in how quickly the cat had gone down - the bandits were scurrying about outside. The yard was filled with tools and there was a tarp covering a large hole in one of the walls.

"Yo!" he called. They all paled as they turned to look at him. "I brought dinner," he said as he threw the wildcat at them.

"You- you're okay?" one of them stammered out looking at the dead animal.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" he asked. Then he turned to the wall and raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

The bandits lost all colors and huddled into a pile as far from Roger as they could.

"N-nothing, ju-just an a-accident…"

He shrugged.

* * *

"Is that really going to be enough?" Rouge asked when dinner was served, referring to the large plate of freshly cooked meat. It smelled absolutely delicious.

"Don't you worry, we'll leave enough for you," Dadan said.

"That's not what I meant," Rouge said and pointed at the plate. The bandits followed her finger only to see the meat mountain already half empty with Roger at the bottom inhaling food like a black hole.

The bandits stared wide eyed with their chins down on the floor.

"We should hurry if we want to eat too," Rouge said walking over to join Roger - Ace was sleeping in his box which they had dragged into the main room to be able to keep an eye on him. Rouge didn't trust the bandits enough to leave Ace alone in their room and felt better knowing he was within her vision - and started eating at speeds that rivaled Roger's.

The bandits were left gaping and by the time they managed to collect themselves there was barely enough food for all of them, starting a miniature war for the remaining pieces of meat.

* * *

Dadan sat in the corner with a small bowl of rice and a piece of meat she'd managed to snag from the pile with the ashtray that was overflowing with cigarette buds - never had she smoked so much in one day as she had today.

She poured herself a cup of sake and with a shaky hand took a swing from the bottle instead, trying to drown out the screams and sounds of fighting coming from the food war happening barely three feet away from her.

* * *

At the end of the very first day they were all convinced that while both of the parents were monsters, Roger was in fact more of an idiot and that Rouge was the real one to be feared.

* * *

 **I've always believed that Rouge is a badass woman, I've always pictured her as this sweetheart who'd mess you up if you pissed her off. I mean, lady landed the strongest man on the planet (though the title was shared with Whitebeard at the time) as well as the 'Pirate King'. She is also the first and only woman in the entire show (so far, if Law's younger sister holds the D. initial as well is as far as I'm aware still uncertain) to hold the letter D. in her name. As we've seen, every D. holds badassery in their DNA and while we haven't gotten confermation on all of them, most of the holders of the letter D. has some sort of haki abilities, if they use it or not - like Ace - is up to them really.**

 **And before you people get on my ass about Roger's age, I want you doubters to go look up Roger's canon age on his wiki page. The dude was in his fifties when he died, which is why Brook recognised his name as that of a rookie back when he was still with the Rumbar pirates. This brother, had he lived, would've been Whitebeard's age.** **He'd be a dusty dad, that one.**

 **But if I'm not mistaken, Oda has stated before that the average life expectency in One Piece is like 120 years old - or something like that, you can correct me if I'm wrong.**

 **As for Rouge's age, since we don't actually have a canon age for her, I'm gonna say she'd be around her late twenties, early thirties when she had Ace. The reason for this is because I think that they met years before Ace was born, since Roger decided to spend a year with her on Baterilla before going to his execution, which is also when Ace was concieved.**

 **So yeah, some basic info there for those interested about that.**


	3. Daddy Roger

Mornings were probably the scariest time of the day for the next couple of days for the bandits. People were unpredictable in the morning. Who knew what one would do while still half-asleep and without coffee. Dadan was particularly nasty in the mornings on normal days and with the baby and its constant tantrums - which always seemed to happen at night - the bandits were walking on eggshells. They weren't sure who they should stay away from more, Dadan or Rouge.

They had quickly found out that Roger was an all around easy guy to be around despite his reputation. The first morning at the house he had walked into the kitchen in just his underwear and started going through the cabinets for food as if he had always lived there - and emptied them as if he'd always lived there. They were still frightened of him, but when weighing the scale of who was scariest between the parents in the morning, they had to say Rouge. While the stories about Roger were many and plentiful, they had yet to see the man angry or do anything that was said in the those stories. Rouge, on the other hand, the bandit's had witnessed throw a man through a freaking wall; And Roger brought in more food than they had ever had in the house, so they didn't really have anything bad to go on besides the rumors.

But in all honesty, the bandits thought that they'd seen the worst of morning people only to realize they'd seen nothing until they'd seen Rouge. She was the one who spent most of her nights trying to calm down Ace during his nightly tantrums because everytime Roger tried he just cried more, robbing her of most of her sleep.

There were no words to explain the crankiness of the new mother when she came into the kitchen, eyes red, purple bags under her eyes, hair in a tussle and the frown of frowns on her face.

"Good morning, gorgeous," Roger would greet her every morning with a kiss to her cheek.

She sent him a glare and said, "Don't mock me…" before grabbing a cup of coffee, dropped three sugar cubes in it, stirred and emptied the whole thing in one sweep.

"Long night?" Dogra asked carefully, he had a cup of coffee himself since he hadn't gotten much sleep either.

Rouge sat down at the table and rested her head in her hand, a refilled cup of coffee in her hand. "He wouldn't stop screaming… and that idiot sleeps like a brick and Ace won't let him help, and he won't sleep…" she muttered. "How did you not hear it?"

Some of the bandits looked sheepish. "They camped out in the bath house."

"Lucky you…" Rouge said, eyes dropping heavily. Then her head suddenly hit the table and the cup crashed to the floor, spilling hot coffee all over the floor.

It took less than a second for the room to explode.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"What the hell!"

"Is she dead?!"

"What do we do?!"

"Why aren't you freaking out? Your wife just died!"

Roger laughed at their remarks. So that was how people reacted when that happened. He had always been the one dropping and had never actually seen the way people reacted to it. He had seen Rouge drop before, but then there hadn't been anyone around that didn't know already about her narcolepsy. Not to mention that Rouge had always been meticulous about her schedule to keep her narcoleptic fits in check. The stress of being a mother had thrown that schedule out of order.

"She's just asleep," Roger said, carefully picking Rouge up in his arms.

"What…?"

A loud snore echoed through the kitchen and they all stared at Rouge. At first they all just stood there, confused as if they couldn't quite process what was happening. Then they all exclaimed at the same time, "SHE'S ASLEEP?!"

Roger snickered as he re-adjusted his hold on Rouge before he walked her back up to their bedroom. He placed her back onto the mattresses and wrapped her up in the blankets. She immediately grabbed the pillow and hugged it to her chest.

She looked exhausted.

It had been a rough journey for both of them, but Rouge had suffered more, especially since there had never actually been any plans to leave Baterilla after Ace was born. Roger was used to sailing and having a moving home, while Rouge wasn't. She had always had a steady homestead all her life and had never needed to run from the law. Quite the opposite of Roger who reveled in it.

He knew that she had chosen this life of her own free will. She had even hit him over the head when he had apologized for causing her so much trouble, telling him that she had only herself to blame and that she didn't regret any of it. But that didn't mean that it didn't take a toll on someone who wasn't used to it.

He gently caressed her cheek. She was very brave, being willing to leave everything and everyone behind for him.

Roger walked over to the makeshift crib, seeing Ace wide awake, thumb in his mouth and holding onto his toes. He was rocking back and forth on top of the wool. When he saw Roger he let out a loud noise that sounded a little like a laugh and a little like absolute nonsense while flailed his arms at Roger as said father picked him up.

"How about we let mommy sleep in today," Roger said, looking over to the sleeping Rouge. Ace only gurgled as a reply.

Rouge usually fed him when he woke up so, "Let's get you some food."

* * *

There were more than one pair of confused eyes as they all stared at the small carton. Roger pursed his lips as he read the instructions.

He had never fed Ace before, since the babe was still very young and Rouge still breastfeed him. He had been given instructions on what to do if she wasn't there to feed Ace herself, but Roger had never needed to do it. Plus, Rouge had been very specific on their journey that the carton was only to be used in special occasions - like now - and that Ace was too young to eat anything solid. Now seemed to be a good time, since she was asleep upstairs.

A few of the bandits had gotten curios when Roger came into the kitchen holding Ace and a blue box that looked sort of like cereal. After the man had stared at the back of it for a good couple of minutes, some of them had decided to look over his shoulder and then gotten engrossed in the process as well. For all that they knew it looked like rocket science.

They had gotten past the step about boiling water, which was just about done. It was the next part that was confusing them.

"Hmm… Like this?" Roger asked no one in particular as he filled the boiled water into the baby bottle. The steam rose high in the air.

"Then you add the powder, right?" one of the bandits asked, pointing at the bottle.

"Yes, but only three scoops," Magra said as he scanned through the instructions. "Then you shake it..."

"Shake it?" Roger asked and started shaking the bottle.

"Put in the powder first!"

"Oh, and then shake it?"

"Until it's evenly mixed."

"How do you know when it's evenly mixed?"

Then, as he started to shake it, the cap on the bottle came off and the contents scattered all across the walls and the people. Ace, being currently held in Dogra's arms, started whining and the entire room stared at the baby in anxious silence. They swallowed and then Ace started crying.

"You're supposed to screw the cap on!"

"Ops," Roger said, scratching the back of his neck.

Dogra looked down at the baby and then around the room - for someone so small he had a good pair of lungs on him. The bandits all turned to look at Roger who was still standing there, covered in baby formula and the empty bottle still in hand.

"You're the dad, do something!" a bandit exclaimed, grabbing the crying baby and replacing the bottle with baby Ace.

"Shh, Ace, you're going to wake mommy," Roger said, rocking him back and forth.

* * *

When Dadan came into the kitchen, tired, but with at least a few hours of sleep and saw the complete chaos she couldn't help but blink. The baby was screaming, everyone and everything was covered in formula and Rouge was nowhere to be found.

"The hell is going on?" she asked.

"We're feeding the baby," one of the bandits said.

" _Trying_ to feed the baby," Dogra corrected.

"How do you try to feed a baby? Where's Rouge?" Dadan asked, looking around for the blonde.

"She's sleeping," Roger said, having gone from rocking Ace to rocking his entire body back and forth. It seemed to have worked since Ace had gone from screaming to tugging on Roger's mustache. He still looked incredibly displeased, though.

"Have you never fed a baby before?" Dadan asked.

"Rouge usually takes care of the feeding."

Dadan stared at the new father. What had she expected. A vein pulsed on her forehead as her already short temper was cut even shorter. Her brain had enough sanity left to remind her of the dangers to her life, but she lacked the necessary coffee to deal right now.

"Give me that!" she said, grabbing the carton. She quickly scanned the instructions. It was simple enough. What had there been that was so hard to understand? "Do you have a baby bottle?"

Roger looked around before grabbing the small bottle Rouge had told him to use when feeding Ace formula milk. Dadan grabbed it and started preparing the formula. It took about thirty minutes before Dadan stood with the powder in the water and looking around for the cap.

"Where's the cap?" she asked.

"Here," one of the bandits said, holding it out to her.

She took it and screwed it on before the started shaking the bottle until she deemed it good enough. Then she handed it over to Roger.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Dadan asked as Roger grabbed the bottle.

"Can't be that hard," Roger said, holding the bottle in front of Ace's mouth. He grabbed the bottle with his small hands and quickly started sucking.

It was quite the surreal scene. The Pirate King feeding a baby. Never had Dadan believed she would see something so incredibly unbelievable in her entire life. But here he was, standing in her kitchen feeding his kid.

When Ace released the bottle, Roger put him on his shoulder. At least he knew he needed to burp the kid. He patted Ace's back and the boy let out a small burp.

"I think he puked on you," one of the bandits said, not being able to hide a smile.

Roger looked over his shoulder, seeing a trail of puke down the back of his shirt.

* * *

After throwing the shirt in the hamper, Roger had gone to sitting outside with baby Ace. It was perfect weather, sunny and an almost clear sky. The air was humid but smelled strongly of wood and earth.

Some of the bandits that had been brave enough after the baby feeding incident had followed him outside, hiding in the doorway to spy on him. They had talked among themselves and decided that Roger wasn't as bad as they had thought. Incredibly strong and very much an idiot but he hadn't done anything worth being terrified over; besides, wasn't it better to be on his good side than his bad? Most of them hid or stayed away from him, sending glares in anger or disgust at him - not that he seemed to notice or care - but that didn't stop the curiosity of some of them.

It hadn't taken them long to slowly inch closer and closer, listening with interest to the stories the man was telling. He was doing grand gestures with his hands and made faces of excitement at the right parts to make the bandits sit on edge, exaggerated everything incredibly.

He had glanced at them halfway through one of his stories and had smiled at them, waving for them to come closer. Then he had continued on with his story, sounding more excited as he talked.

"...And, you won't believe it, but then she _slapped_ me! Right across the face, as if I'd done something wrong - and Rayleigh was just laughing, that meanie," Roger said, waving a hand in the air. Ace followed the hand with his eyes and reached for it with his small chubby hands. Roger smiled and let him grab onto his finger.

"So Rayleigh demanded I go apologize - I didn't even know what I'd done to make her so angry. She explained it to me later - which meant I had to find her first. It wasn't easy I tell you. No one wanted to help me and sent me on a wild goose chase! It was really rude." He pouted - something no one on the planet who knew of his name believed him even capable of.

It was almost adorable - if anyone had ever used those words and Roger in the same sentence before - how he was telling stories to his son as if the kid actually understood what he was saying. If you'd never heard of him, you might have thought he was just your average dad.

"Did you find her?" one of the bandits asked, inching closer to the pirate king.

"Of course he found her, otherwise they wouldn't be here," another said, rolling his eyes.

"I did, but it took a while. She didn't live in the city with the rest of the people but outside by some cliff," Roger said. Ace gurgled and laughed.

"And?"

"What did she do?"

"She hit me with a frying pan," Roger grinned, beaming as if it was an achievement.

The bandits looked at each other and back at the king. "With her frying pan?"

Roger nodded.

"But how did you end up out here then, with that… uh, with… a baby?"

"She warmed up to me eventually," Roger said, tickling Ace's stomach causing a string of giggles.

"How do you go from hitting someone with a frying pan to having a kid with them?"

Ace turned his eyes towards the bandits, looking at them confused for a moment before he laughed. He reached out his hands towards them and smiled, wiggling in Roger's grip as if he was trying to inch closer to the bandits.

"W-what is he doing?"

"I think he wants you to carry him," one of the bandits said.

The bandit stared at Ace as if he was an alien as Roger held the babe out for him to take. He looked around at his friends who shrugged and then at Roger.

"Here, uh…" Roger frowned and leaned his head to the side. "Who are you again?"

"Uhm…"

The bandits looked at each and swallowed. One of them scratched his neck and laughed nervously.

"I'm Henry," he said, pointing at himself. "This is Folliard," he pointed at the strong built man, who Ace was currently reaching for, who waved carefully. "And that is Bowdre." Said bandit, a pretty regular man with no outstanding features, nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Roger smiled.

Folliard carefully reached out his arms. "You… You sure it's safe?"

"What are you talking about? Of course it's safe."

"Okay…" Folliard said and took Ace.

He was heavier than the bandit had expected and moved around a lot. "How do I…?" he asked as he tried to position Ace the way Roger had been holding him.

"I think you need to hold your hand like this, on the back, you know," Henry said, pointing to Ace's back. Folliard repositioned his grip, making it much easier to handle the kicking legs.

"He's heavier than I thought," Folliard said.

He had never held a baby before, had never expected to hold a baby either. But it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. While yes, Ace was heavier than he'd expected, especially for someone his size, and he was moving around a lot with his wiggling and kicking, but he was also incredibly cute as he looked up at him with those darkening eyes.

Speaking of his eyes, now that he was so close to him, Folliard noticed that Ace's eyes were different shades of brown. One was dark brown, almost black while the other was much lighter with some small specs of blue if he looked closely.

"His eyes are weird," Bowdre said, and froze. He chuckled nervously and waved his hands around frantically as he hurried to say, "I mean they're a weird color, you know… Two different ones, I mean…!"

"Yeah, they used to be blue," Roger said, crossing his arms.

The three bandits looked at the baby in confusion. "How did they turn brown?"

"Rouge said they do that," Roger said with a shrug. He seemed to be just as confused as they were.

The bandits looked down at the baby. Were they supposed to do that?

Folliard repositioned his hands carefully to not disturb the baby in his arms. It was weird to hold such a small human in his arms. There were so many more things you had to think about than he had thought. Hold the head, too young to hold it up himself, support his back so he's comfortable, careful he likes to grab with his hands, he also kicks, watch out for that!

But it was going well. He had managed to avoid a kick to the chin and while it was a little nasty to feel Ace's gums on his finger as the little guy chewed on them it was also really adorable. The slobber he could do without, though.

"He's so tiny," Henry said as he looked down at Ace. "Is he supposed to be that tiny?"

Roger shrugged. "Apparently he was born earlier than he was supposed to, but the nurse said he was healthy."

"Hm…"

"Are there… More stories?" Bowdre asked.

"Of course!" Roger said. He hummed for a moment and then lit up, there might as well have been a light bulb above his head. "Oh, the first time I met Newgate! I'm sure it gave Rayleigh grey hair," he laughed. "Now, it was in paradise-"

"Paradise?"

"That's what they call the first half of the Grand Line in the New World - second half of the Grand Line," Roger explained.

The bandits nodded.

"Anyway, it was in paradise at this bar…"

* * *

The mess that used to be the kitchen was left to the bandits to clean up, which earned Dadan a lot of complaints and whining. They had done it, of course, but had grumbled that the devil should do it instead since it was his mess. When Dadan had told them to tell him that they had gone directly to cleaning.

"Fucking freeloader…" one of them muttered as he wiped chunky baby formula off of the cabinets.

He was tired of going to sleep in fear at night. The gossip among the men was almost ridiculous and the baby screaming kept most of them - the ones who hadn't moved into the bathhouse, since there was only so much space - awake at night. The few who had earplugs fought to keep them, starting a mini war over who got to sleep peacefully and who got to suffer.

Everyone were terrified, walking on their tiptoes when in the house or when they knew Roger or Rouge was around. There were so many stories about Roger and the evils that he'd committed. Of how he'd leveled an entire city for the heck of it or how he defeated an entire armada all on his own. He hadn't earned himself the title of Pirate King, and thus the most wanted man in the world in the process, just for nothing. It made everyone paranoid that Roger could snap one day and just level the whole house with them inside.

It was horrible sleeping at night when the devil himself was sleeping just rooms away.

"You tell 'em that," the bandit cleaning the floor said with a scowl. His knees hurt and he had baby formula staining his pants. "It's your life on the line, but don't involve the rest of us who want to live."

"We shouldn't have to deal with this!" the bandit snarled, scrubbing harder. "We're not marines, they shouldn't push their problems onto us! And Boss just let let Garp walk all over her…"

"Shut up before you get us all killed," the third bandit in the room said.

The room filled with silence as they kept cleaning.

* * *

Rouge was having a wonderful dream, because it had to be a dream.

She was sitting on the moon with an array of colors and glitter sprinkled around the air and she had what looked like a milkshake made out of clouds in her hands. The air was sweet and tasted of strawberries, like the ones she had dipped in chocolate with Roger on their first valentine's day - not that Roger had had any idea of what valentine's day was back then. Her kitchen had turned into a mess of chocolate and mashed strawberries and there had been more touching than there had been dipped strawberries.

Dream-Roger, dressed in a suit, came up to her with a tray of different sweets and desserts. He gave her that grin that made her weak in the knees and caused butterflies to fly around her stomach.

"Strawberry cheesecake, my love?" he asked, leaning down like waiters do in fancy restaurants.

"Yes, please," she said, accepting the small slice. It looked absolutely delicious and tasted heavenly.

Yes, this was definitely a dream, she thought. But it was a nice dream.

Rouge snickered as dream-Roger leaned down and started peppering her neck with kisses. His mustache tickled her neck and chin as he pressed a kiss just beneath her ear and whispered words in her ear that no one else had ever heard him speak.

A hand snaked down her side and gripped her hip, pulling her closer onto his lap. She gripped his shoulder with one hand and ran her other through his hair. It was so much smoother than people thought, while a little greasy maybe.

It was so nice to be in his arms again. After crossing half the world and with Ace there had been no time for them to be alone with each other. There had always been something, be it a sea king attacking the ship, Garp and Roger getting into a fight - it was doomed to happen with the two in the same proximity for more than five minutes - or Ace being, well, a baby. It was so nice to just relax in the sweet calm again.

Calm…

She frowned. That thought alone was off, as if there was something wrong with there being silence. As if them being able to be alone after so long but yet so soon after Ace was born, it made her uneasy.

Her mind nagged at her, telling her something was wrong, that it shouldn't be this calm.

"Something's wrong," she said.

"Hm?" was dream-Roger's only response as he kept assaulting her neck.

"No, seriously, Roger! Something's wrong," she said, pushing him away by his shoulder.

There was something off about him, too, she noticed. He was wearing a suit, for one. She had never seen Roger in a suit, not even at the fanciest of events they'd gone to together, which to be fair hadn't been all that fancy but had still required some pampering. The most she'd managed to get on him was a tie over his normal white button up. It looked quite ridiculous, actually. Roger in a black tie, the white standard pirate shirt you'd see in fiction, his absolutely ugly ankle pants and those stupid sandals - she, and half his crew, had had a good laugh that night.

But the suit wasn't just it, there was something else. What was it?

What was it?

It was silent, Roger was silent, and their surroundings were silent. Serene, calm.

Why was it calm? Was Ace still asleep?

Was Ace…?

Ace...

* * *

She shot out of bed faster than she'd ever done before in her life. She almost crawled over the floor over to the makeshift crib only to find it empty. That small voice in the back of her head said that Roger was probably the one who had taken Ace and told her to calm down, but that didn't stop the panic from slowly spreading. She had fallen asleep before she'd feed Ace, he probably hadn't eaten yet. He must be hungry! Hungry babies cried, so why was it so quiet?

She ran out of the room and almost tumbled down the stairs looking frantically for Roger or Ace or anyone holding anything even remotely resembling a baby. They were among strangers, how could she have fallen asleep?

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen the first thing she took note of was that neither Roger or Ace was there. The second was that it was a mess and the third that three bandits had frozen in the middle of cleaning said mess.

She didn't even bother to stay but was gone before they could ask what was wrong.

Ace wasn't in the house. Roger wasn't in the house.

Outside?

Rouge ran out the open door, seeing Roger laughing with a small group of bandits. He waved her over when he noticed her.

"Rouge! Come meet my new friends!" he said.

He wasn't holding Ace.

Her eyes scanned the group and saw Ace in the hands of one of the bandits. She immediately snatched him into her arms and hugged him. She breathed a sigh of relief as Ace gurgled. The bandit held his hands up as if he was being held at gunpoint.

"Is something wrong?" Roger asked, looking around the area.

"No, everything's fine now," Rouge said and sat down next to him. "You shouldn't have let me sleep so long."

"You dropped," Roger said. "Couldn't wake you if I wanted to."

That was true. When she had a narcoleptic fit she might as well be a brick wall until she woke up on her own. She sighed, letting her grip on Ace soften when he started squirming. He was pretty calm for a baby who hadn't eaten yet.

She shrugged as she reached up for her shoulder strap.

"Do you mind?" Rouge asked the bandits who all looked away, blushing.

"I've already fed him," Roger said with a proud smile. She turned to him in surprise.

"You did?" Then it clicked. "Is that why the kitchen's a mess?"

He looked away cheepish. "Maybe…"

* * *

 **I decided to give some of the bandit's names because I can't keep calling them "the bandits" or "one of the bandits", it get's confusing. So have some named bandits that just made friends with Roger, yay!**


	4. Goa Kingdom

"We are running out of diapers," Rouge said, as she fastened Ace's freshly changed diaper.

The three bandits had covered their noses and moved away from the baby, even Roger had leaned backwards from the smell. She sent them a silent really and rolled her eyes. It was baby poop, not toxic waste.

"We're going to have to buy more soon, and I still want a proper crib for Ace," she continued.

"There's a town just down the mountain," Henry said. "It's this small little village."

"You mean Windmill village?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, if you knew why did you ask?" he asked.

"Garp specifically told us to avoid it," she said. They had been forced to walk through it to get up the mountain. It had been a miracle that no one had taken much notice of them, and if they had they hadn't said anything - probably because Garp had been with them. "The smaller the town, the more attention to strangers."

"Well, there's Goa Kingdom, at the other end of the forest. It's a lot bigger and you'd probably draw much less attention there," Folliard said. "But it's not the safest place."

"Why is that?" Rouge asked, sending a silent sit down to Roger who looked ready to dart off like he'd done the first day.

"It's surrounded by this huge wall to keep people out and this huge pile of trash called the Grey Terminal. Inside the walls there's Edge Town, Town Center and High Town," Folliard explained, counting the separate areas on his fingers. "I've never been to High Town or the Town Center, but it's Edge Town and the Grey Terminal that's more dangerous."

"Yeah," Henry nodded. "The Grey Terminal is lawless, anything's okay there because the guards don't care about its people. Edge Town is full of thugs and gangs, it's a ghetto."

"Is there no other city?" Rouge asked, picking Ace up.

Goa sounded like it could become a problem. If it was full of gangs and thugs than new faces would also draw attention. Which was the exact opposite of what they wanted.

She'd grown up on a small island with no large cities but with a myriad of scattered towns. There were so many that when you walked through one and decided to blink, you may just find yourself in the next town over.

"Not that I know of," Henry said with a shrug. "I'm from Edge Town, most of us are. You could ask Boss, though. She would know."

* * *

"...-Diapers, baby crib, blankets and pillow for said crib," Rouge muttered as she jotted the items down on a notepad.

There were quite a lot of items which they needed but currently didn't have because of the move. It was frustrating to have to list all the items again after already owning or having gotten them back on Baterilla. Some items were things she had already owned, like a baby bed. It had been a beautiful oval crib of white wood. It was padded with blue pillows and a white mattress. When they'd left the only things they'd been able to take with them had been the essentials, the crib had not been part of said list.

"Toys, maybe?" Henry asked. "All kids need toys."

Rouge nodded and wrote it down. Maybe a stuffed animal to start with since Ace was still so young, and something to chew on, since he seemed very keen on chewing on anything he could grab. Like how he was currently chewing on Folliard's finger while the man looked slightly disgusted.

He'd been allowed to hold Ace again, though he felt somewhat nervous since Rouge kept eyeing him as if she was expecting him to do something, like drop him.

"Do you need more baby food?"

"No, Ace is still too young, it'll just upset his stomach," she answered, tapping her chin with the pen.

"Clothes, right?" Folliard asked.

"He'll just grow out of them," she said.

Ace was still growing and fast at that, plus they were living in the middle of a forest where contact with other people would be scarce. It would be a waste of money to buy baby clothes Ace would never get the chance to wear, and that made her sad; Thinking of all the regular things normal children had that Ace would be forced to grow up without.

He wouldn't be able to go to school, because it would be too risky. He wouldn't be able to make friends his own age because he had to grow up away from other people so he could have his family with him. Rouge would never be able to brag about her son to other mothers and Roger would never be able to boast about his amazing son to random patrons at the bar. Ace would never get the chance to proudly say to someone "These are my parents" and that made something heavy grow in her chest.

But just because Ace couldn't have a normal childhood didn't mean that she wouldn't try to make it as close to one as she could. She had no problem believing that even if they had been able to stay on Baterilla, Ace would've still had an abnormal childhood. Normal tended to evacuate the room when Roger entered.

The last decade of her life was a pretty good example of that.

She smiled fondly as she thought back to all the happy times they'd had together. There were so many moments of pure happiness that made her all warm inside. Like when Roger came to apologize to her the first time they'd met, long before he'd become the pirate king, or the time he came back after almost two years away in the Grand Line, holding a beautiful golden necklace and a huge grin on his face as he said those words that had become their thing, "Missed me?" - which had turned into "I'm back!" which eventually became "I'm home." - or the time when she'd told him he was going to be a father and he'd twirled her across the living room in joy.

"We do need a playpen."

"A what?"

"It's a small fence that works to keep the baby from walking off, or maybe a crib that works as a playpen? That way we could move it around the house," she mussed.

When Ace got old enough to walk there existed the real possibility of him wandering into the forest, maybe even as soon as when he started to crawl. She didn't want him going somewhere without their supervision, especially here where she didn't know the terrain or the animals and definitely not the people.

She tried to think of all the necessities that they now lacked and which ones were a higher priority and which were lower on the list. So far the crib, diapers and blankets were at the top of the list.

"What about you?" Bowdre asked. "Don't you need anything?"

"You did move and don't seem to have taken all that much with you."

Rouge hummed. She hadn't thought as much about her and Roger as she had about the necessities for Ace, but now that he said it, there were things she would like, too. Like books, both baby books and books for her - Roger didn't care much about reading. If she was going to spend the next twenty years up on this mountain she needed some material to keep her busy, books were a good start.

She looked around the front yard of their new residence and frowned. Back home she had had some beautiful bushes full of flowers and they had taken up a lot of her time. They had even been her source of employment. Working with the flora had relaxed her, helping her relax and release her stress. Whenever she'd read something about Roger in the news - a battle, some propaganda about the Roger Pirate's having disappeared, or the similar articles - she had turned to care for her plants.

Maybe she could convince the bandits to let her plant a small garden somewhere around the house. It would definitely improve the surroundings.

But necessities for her and Roger… A bed would definitely be at the top.

"A bed - for us, not Ace. Those mattresses aren't exactly comfortable to sleep on."

If she slept on those mattresses for too long, she might develop a back problem and she did not just end nine months of back pain just to trade it for more back pain. They were flat, hard and lacked the amount of cushion that made a mattress a mattress. Not to mention that they weren't exactly the cleanest, either. They probably hadn't been washed or replaced for quite some time.

There were of course smaller things they'd need, such as toiletries and she needed to find a drugstore that could replenish her narcolepsy medication. But a bed was a good place to start, as well as covers for said bed.

* * *

"Dadan-san," Rouge said, sitting down next to the huge woman. Dadan gave a nod in acknowledge. "Are there any towns other than Windmill village and Goa on the island?"

The bandit pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. She tapped the floorboards with a finger as she thought. Then she nodded.

"There's a few scattered towns along the coast on the other side of the island," Dadan said. "But they are a few days away at least by ride, walking would take even longer."

Rouge sighed. She had really hoped to be able to avoid Goa.

"So Goa is our best bet," she said.

The capital sounded like it could become a problem. If it was full of gangs and thugs then new faces would also draw attention. The bandits might be people who'd occasionally be seen in the city, but Rouge had no doubts that she would turn at least a few heads. Which was the exact opposite of what they wanted.

"Seems so," Dadan nodded.

* * *

They decided to go the next day and that Rouge would be accompanied by Dogra and Folliard. Dogra would handle the finasials while Folliard would handle the heavy lifting. It was also decided that Roger would not be coming with them. It would be too risky. It had barely been little over two months since the news about Roger's supposed death and his face was still plastered all over the world. If someone with said face turned up in East Blue then the marine's would be all over it. They had already had to run once and Rouge was in no mood to do so again.

* * *

"You can't come," Rouge said, tightening the belt with the hip bags around her waist.

Roger pouted. "But I want to..."

Rouge smiled and patted his shoulder in sympathy. "I know, honey, but we talked about this. There is no way they won't recognize you."

"And I don't want any marines coming here because someone saw the Pirate King," Dadan grumbled. She probably didn't notice that they could all hear her mutterings.

"But I want to see the city," Roger said, puppy dog eyes now accompanying the pout.

"But she's right," Rouge said.

There was no way that Roger wouldn't be recognized down in Goa, no matter how far from the Grand Line they were. The bandits had recognized him immediately and Rouge had a hard time believing Roger would be able to walk through Goa without someone being able to place his face. If what she'd been told about the place was true, then there would probably be a couple of stupid schmucks who'd want to cash in on the bounty on his head. It would probably have them set for a good couple of years.

Roger couldn't go with them.

But maybe that was a good thing. Rouge didn't want to leave Ace alone with the bandits, but they still needed to go buy the essentials from the list. Roger wasn't a fan of shopping, anyone could tell you that, and Rouge wouldn't mind a small break.

She didn't want to leave him completely without something to do, though. A bored Roger tended to be a Roger who got into trouble and that was the last thing they needed right now.

"You'll look after Ace while I'm gone," she said.

She had a memory of reading somewhere that it was good for new fathers to bond with the baby early on. It would strengthen the bond between them and lessen the baby's dependency on their mother. It would be good for Roger.

"And I'm not going alone, Dogra, Folliard and Dadan-san will go with me."

The two men nodded.

"Exactly- Wait, what?" Dadan exclaimed. "Why am I going?"

"It would be nice to talk with someone other than a man for once," Rouge said. "I've spent the last two month's on a boat with two oafs who can't go two seconds without arguing - and if we are going to share the same home for the unforeseeable future, I would like to know you better." Then she smiled deviously. "Of course, you could stay here with Roger if you'd rather not come."

Dadan grumbled inconsistencies before she crossed her arms. "Fine, I'm going."

Rouge gave her a sugary smile before turning back to Roger and the rest of the bandits.

"Alright, there are spare diapers in our bedroom and if he gets cranky try putting him to sleep. Try not to feed him too soon after we've left, he ate barely half an hour ago and if he eats too much he'll just get upset," she explained. "There are blankets upstairs and you can bring the box down for him to lie in. And-"

"Rouge, I've got this," Roger said, cupping her cheeks. "Everything will be fine."

* * *

"I want the house the exact same way it was when we left, you hear me?" Dadan barked as she and their small group made themselves ready to leave.

"Yes, Boss!" the bandits said in unison. It was almost reminiscent of the marines.

Rouge gave Roger a quick kiss. "Behave," she said. "Promise not to cause too much trouble."

"I never cause trouble," he smiled.

* * *

Despite all the rumors and stories about it, the forest was beautiful. The large trees cast long shadows with small rays of sunlight shining through, giving off an almost ethereal atmosphere. Chirping of bugs sang in the wind like natural music while butterflies danced across their path. Above them the flutter of wings and trill of the birds reached their ears, like a smokescreen for the real terrors that roamed the forest around them. Rouge could faintly sense the presence of what must be an animal walking alongside them before it turned to walk further into the forest.

It would definitely be easy to get lost among the vast amount of greenery that all looked the same to the naked eye. Would it even be possible to memorize the many paths in such a covered area, she mused.

She had never been in a forest before, at least not one of this size. She felt absolutely miniscule in size to the large trees and a part of her wondered if this is what it felt like to be standing next to a giant.

Baterilla had been a fairly small island with only two major - with major being just a few yards wider than the one in Windmill Village - ports. This meant that the amount of forest on the island was incredibly reduced and the few areas that fell under the category looked like a backyard bush in comparison to mt. Colubo. This was the first time she had the chance to actually take in the scenery around her.

It was… An odd feeling. She had never left her home island, much less South Blue, before. Having had to watch her home shrink away in the distance, the smoke of her home rising up into the heavens, had been almost painful as the voice in the back of her mind told her that she could never go back. So having set foot on the soil of an island in another blue had been both exciting and terrifying, though not as much as having to sail underneath the red line had been - never in her life had she seen fish that big.

Dawn Island was the polar opposite to Baterilla in so many ways, with the few exceptions she found being all connected to Windmill Village despite having spent less than ten minutes in the small port-town. Those similarities being small village relying on the port and land for economic stability, fishing and farming being the main source of employment and sustenance. But that had been the only similarities she'd seen.

"How far to Goa?" Rouge asked, pushing some branches out of her face.

"About an hour and a half, maybe two?" Dogra answered, sounding a little unsure. "Sometimes it takes longer."

"Why?"

"Different reasons, but most of the time it's because of the animals," he said. "You wouldn't want to cross paths with one, so we may have to take a few detours."

* * *

Dadan looked at the strawberry blonde with undeniable curiosity. She was a strange being, to say the least.

At first glance, Rouge looked like your average young mother. Actually, she didn't look much like a mother either. You couldn't tell that she'd birthed a child just a few months ago. You couldn't tell either that this woman had somehow managed to ensnare the Pirate King as well as keep him by her side. That she was, if unofficially, a queen - even if it was one of pirates.

No, Dadan would never have guessed had she not been smacked in the face with it barely three days ago.

What was it about this woman that stood out among the rest? How had Rouge trapped what was a supposedly untrappable man?

Was it the strawberry hair? The freckles dotting her tanned cheeks and slender shoulders? The chocolate eyes that held determination and kindness yet hid unimpressive strength no one would guess such a small frame could contain?

Rouge lifted her orange and red skirts as she walked over a tree root that reached up to her kneecaps and offered Dogra her hand to help him over once on the other side.

Was it the grace with which she moved? The kindness she showed to others? Was it the strength that Rouge had exhibited that first day on the mountain?

Dadan couldn't figure it out. She had no problem believing Rouge capable of turning a few heads her way, but Roger? The Pirate King? It escaped her.

How had the two ended up together? How had Roger met this pretty little thing and somehow ended up in her care all the way out here on a random island in East Blue?

"What are you thinking about, Boss?" Folliard asked.

Rouge was happily chatting away with Dogra at the front, bright smile on her lips and shining like a mini sun.

Her curiosity took over. "How did someone like you end up with a pirate?"

Rouge looked around at her, brow furrowed. "What do you mean, someone like me?"

"A pretty girl like you," Dadan explained. "Wouldn't you want a farmer husband or a fishmen* on some peaceful island somewhere?"

Rouge laughed, almost like two pearl's bumping into each other. "Of course not!"

The tree bandits raised their eyebrows in unison. Rouge smiled and looked up at the canopy above them, hands clasped behind her back and seemingly looking far beyond the present.

"Then, how did you end up here?" Dogra asked.

"That is a very long story."

"Not really," Folliard said. The three turned to look at him, wide eyed and furrowed brows.

"How do you know?" Rouge asked, eyes narrowing.

"Roger told us yesterday, about how you met on… uhm, somewhere in South Blue, right?" he asked more than said.

"He did, did he?" Rouge muttered, looking a little less than pleased. "Well, if you already know…" she said with a shrug.

They continued walking as Rouge talked.

"When I first met Roger, long before he became the Pirate King, I thought he was a big idiot," Rouge started, speaking more like she was stating a fact than telling a story. "I knew who he was to a certain degree. He was all over the newspapers back then, too." She smiled fondly. "He and some of his crew were messing around in the square and they ended up knocking over one of my flower stands. The only one that had the courtesy to stop and apologize was Reyleigh," she huffed.

Dadan had a hard time seeing Roger messing around as anything other than getting into a fight.

"T-the Dark King?" Folliard asked in disbelief. He swallowed audibly.

Rouge nodded, answering with a hum.

"So I confronted them about it," Rouge continued.

The three bandits looked at her with surprise - it seemed to be a common emotion these days. She had known who Roger was and had still approached him to confront him about her broken flower stand? And she mentioned Dark King Reyleigh so nonchalantly that he might as well have been any other Joe and not a dangerous criminal wanted by the Marines. Despite knowing that this woman was connected to Roger, the shock was almost too much. She was either very brave or very stupid.

"He had the gall to act as if he didn't know what he'd done, which it turned out that he didn't." At that she shook her head and sighed, obviously referring to Roger.

"So you slapped him?" Folliard finished with a question.

She nodded. "Yes, so I slapped him."

"How very romantic," Dadan said with a roll of her eyes.

"I had to slap him in the face with romance quite a few times before he got the concept," Rouge chuckled, once again holding her skirts up as they walked through a muddy path. "He made it up to me."

* * *

Roger watched as Rouge, Dadan, Dogra and Folliard disappeared behind the trees. He was still a little sour over not being able to go with them, but understood why he had to stay behind. You didn't survive the Grand Line without at least some common sense, and you definitely didn't survive Portgas D. Rouge without listening to what she had to say or she'd slap you until you understood why it was dangerous - he could vouch. Hopefully he and Rouge could go to Goa together one day without having to worry about putting Ace in danger.

The moment the group was out of sight, Ace - as if on cue - started crying again. A collective "Come on!" echoed among the bandits.

"Shh, Ace," Roger hushed in an attempt at getting the baby to calm down and started rocking back and forth.

"Can't you do something?" Henry asked, watching Roger try and get Ace to quiet down.

Ace was a mama's boy. He clung to Rouge like hair did its roots and had a tendency to cry when she wasn't in the room or got really upset and she wasn't there to comfort him. He refused to let Roger tend to him at night, only screaming more when he tried.

"I don't know, what do babies like?" he asked.

He had never really comforted Ace before yesterday and that had been easy to solve once the babe had been fed. He had just eaten, so he couldn't be hungry and he wasn't smelling like a dumpster, so he hadn't filled his diaper, so the only reason why he was crying right now was probably because he'd seen Rouge leave behind the trees.

Roger was lost on what he should do. He had never even held a baby before Rouge had handed him Ace when the boy was born. He knew very little about childcare besides what Rouge and Garp had told him - though Rouge had told him to take everything the marine said with a shaker of salt.

It had surprised Roger to find out that the man had had a son himself. He had told the two new parents stories of when his own son was just a child. Not that he had been the best source of information about childcare, but Roger had listened with care. Any information was good information.

"What about singing?" a bandit piped up. "Don't babies like singing?"

"Of course!" Roger nodded.

It made sense. Everyone likes singing, he reasoned and he knew quite a few songs from his time sailing the seas. If there was one thing pirates liked to do while partying, it was singing and drinking. Especially at the same time. They also like the company of beautiful women, but mostly singing and drinking.

But which song? Not just any song would help calm Ace down, it had to be one that was slow and soothing. There were also a lot of songs that definitely weren't fit for children to hear.

"I know!" he exclaimed.

Roger cleared his throat and started rocking Ace back and forth in a slow rhythm. He started humming low in his throat, making his chest vibrate.

"~Sleep boonie pirate laddie, while the waves they roll**~" he sang in a deep voice.

He was definitely not the best singer. Anything but, actually. But he sang with confidence, not seeming to care about the way the bandits looked at him with shock.

"~Sleep bonnie pirate laddie, ocean breeze blow~

"~Feel the ship rock to and fro, hear wind through rigging sigh~"

Ace went from crying to whining, looking up at his dad with a scrunched up face and puffy eyes. Roger looked down at him, a smile on his face.

"~The gentle ocean sounds below, a pirate lullaby~"

* * *

The Grey Terminal was as much of a dump, if not more so, as she'd been told it was. There were mountains of trash everywhere and the smell was foul. People were wandering around in rags, digging through the trash piles for anything worthwhile. Some found the remains of food that looked way beyond its expiration date and yet still seemed ecstatic about the find while others found some sort of valuable necklace or other trinket that more often than not caused them to be hunted until they either got away or lost their find to someone else.

She had to lift her skirts as she followed Dogra and Folliard through the trash maze. They seemed to know exactly where they were going and she guessed it was towards the huge number of aura's ahead of them. There were plenty of aura's around them as well, more than she'd thought there would be in the Grey Terminal, not coming near the amount in the city, but definitely more than your average small town.

A few heads turned up when they passed and she could feel their eyes following her. Murmurs erupted around them, some being as bold as pointing straight at them.

She ignored them, looking straight forward towards the large gate ahead of them. The closer to it they came, the more people there were. A long line was formed outside the large opening while a group of guards decided who could come and go into the city. Plenty of people were turned away because of whatever reason the guards found legit, most being people she assumed were from the Gray Terminal. The homeless that were let in all had large bags with them, some looking more full than others; the guards seemed to be inspecting all of the bags.

"What are they doing?" Rouge asked.

"Checking their bags," Folliard said. He was holding their money pouch tight in his hands, keeping an eye out around them. "You can't bring in just about anything."

"Are there any specific items they don't allow?" Rouge asked.

"Not that we have to worry about," Dadan answered. "They know us well enough."

* * *

Getting through the gate had been easy. The guards had turned to look at them, given them all a one over before pointing with his gun that they could continue through.

Rouge didn't know that her heart was pounding heavily in her chest until they were inside and it calmed down. She let out a sigh of relief.

For some reason she had expected there to be some kind of trouble getting through. As if the man could sense that she wasn't from the island or that she was somehow connected to Roger and detain them. An image of a marine convoy appeared in her mind and a shudder ran down her spine, sending chills throughout her body. Every worst case scenario playing out inside her head.

"Alright," Dadan said, one hand on her hip and holding a list of her own in the other. "While we're here, we might as well stock up."

Most of the items on the list were related to repairs, like nails and bolts, others were more mundane, like cleaning supplies and soap. They went through both of the two lists and made up a plan on what to prioritize and what could wait till another time.

After a small debate it was decided that the baby essentials would go first, being the one that would take longer and because the three bandits really didn't want to piss Rouge off.

* * *

Most of the shops, Rouge quickly found out, were seedy low class vintage stores with price exceeding the actual price of what they were selling. Another thing that was made clear was that one of the best things you could in Edge Town was barter the price down. But it was risky, because the salesmen were seasoned owners and knew what they were doing and could easily trick you into a much more expensive price tag than what you could actually afford.

Finding a shop with reasonable prices for baby cribs proved to be harder than she'd expected. But most of the ones she found she just needed to scan the cribs before turning on her heel and leave in search of another store.

* * *

"No."

She shook her head and went on to the next one.

"Absolutely not."

She said something about size and color.

"I don't think so."

She didn't even look at the crib as she walked past it.

"No."

Rouge pursed her lips as she looked down disappointedly at the cribs. Folliard had stopped paying attention to what was wrong with the beds a while ago, not understanding why she couldn't just pick one and be happy with it. They all looked about the same - wooden and square.

"Is this all you have?" Rouge asked the salesman.

The man, an elder man with oval glasses and a face that looked like a wrinkly butt, nodded with a plastered on fake smile. "Yes, are any of them to your liking, miss?"

"No," she answered pointedly.

"Maybe if you just take another look around, I'm sure there is one that would suit your needs," the salesman said in a voice that was too sweet and too well practiced to be genuine.

"No, we're done here," Rouge said and walked out of the shop.

"What was wrong with them?" Dogra asked as they made their way down the street. "They all looked fine."

Rouge scoffed. "They didn't feel right."

Folliard frowned. Was it always this hard to shop with a woman?

"Then why don't you just build your own crib?" he muttered. He was tired of going through stores. He was a more get-your-shit-and-get-out kind of guy.

* * *

Of course!

Why hadn't she thought of that? They could just build a crib, one that looked just like the one back home. They could paint it whatever color they wanted and do whatever adjustments that came to mind. It would also be more personal.

No matter how desperate she was for a crib for Ace she was not going to pay half a fortune for one.

It had not been this hard to find a crib back on Baterilla. In fact, Rouge had entered the store and had immediately fallen in love with an egg-shaped one out of white wood. She had padded it with blue blankets and white pillows and Ace had just looked adorable in it. Unfortunately he had only lived on Baterilla for little over a week and spent nearly all of those nights either awake or sleeping in Rouge's arms. The crib hadn't been used and finding one to replace it was proving to be harder than possible.

It was a good thing that Roger hadn't been allowed to come with because he would have fallen over of boredom. He had never been able to focus on buying a crib. He hadn't even been involved in buying the old one even if he had tried to be as helpful as he could.

But building their own? She loved the idea.

* * *

After a trip to the bookstore where Rouge picked a few books on fairy tales, some novels she found interesting and one on gardening with information that she mostly already knew but was still good to have on hand, they made their way back up the mountain.

They didn't have as much with them as they had expected when they left, but for some reason that was a relief. It meant less to carry and would also get them back to the house faster.

* * *

Roger smiled when he sensed the group returning to the house and waved at them when they came out through the woodwork. "How'd it go?"

"Didn't find a crib," Rouge sighed, setting her bag down before sitting down herself. "But we don't need to."

"Finally okay with the box?"

"No," she said, swatting him on the arm. "But we can build our own!"

"OH!" Roger said, smile growing wider. He could picture it in his mind, how he'd want the crib to look like. It slowly grew in his mind and he nodded. "Yes, that is a good idea."

"By the way," Rouge said and dug through the bag. She pulled something out of the bag and threw it at him. "I got you something."

He picked up the gray beard and raised an eyebrow. "What's this for?"

"So you can go into town," Rouge said with a smile.

* * *

 ***A fishman as in a fisher, not the species but as a man who works with fish**

 ****The Whiskey Bards - A pirate's lullaby**

 **Now this chapter was supposed to be longer, but once I actually got to Goa I realized that there wasn't much I could put there that wouldn't just pad the chapter out with nonsense that really didn't matter to the story. I could have Rouge walk around the town looking for a shop, but that wouldn't be interesting. I could also have there be some kind of complication by the gate, but we already know that Dogra could go all the way up to the port in High Town (as seen when Sabo 'died') so I'm fairly sure that the bandits are known people in Edge Town, so that wouldn't really add much to the story either.**

 **So, yeah, this chapter didn't really turn out the way I hoped it would, but I couldn't come up with something that wouldn't just be useless babble. So I'm sorry if the Goa visit is shorter than you thought it would be.**


	5. Of baby beds and pirate ships

**I'm gonna apologize right now for this chapter, because I think it's so damn boring. I tried to come up with something interesting to put into it, but everytime I look at it, I just want to get it out of the way. But I needed to bring an end to the 'Baby Crib Arc' and this was it.**

 **I may come back later and revise this chapter, maybe add something if I can think of something later. But right now, I just need it out of the way so I can move on with the story. That being said, you can probably just skip this chapter, it's short and not very interesting.**

 **If you want to know what the crib will look like, just skip to the end.**

* * *

Building their own crib had turned out to be the perfect idea. They had pulled out some paper and pens from one of the storage rooms and had pulled out a small fold table. Magra drew thin lines on the paper after the parent's directions - and a few shouts from the other bandits on how they thought the crib should look - since it quickly turned out that neither Roger or Rouge was any good with a pen. Roger had attempted to draw what he saw as the ideal crib for Ace, something that looked more like a ship than a baby bed - it was even designed with a sail on the headboard. Rouge had said no immediately. She had grabbed one of the papers and drew her own ideal crib, which had been oval shaped with fabric falling down the sides like a canopy.

The two parents had quickly gotten into an argument over which crib was the better. Some of the arguments being, "it looks like an egg" and "he's not going sailing".

Magra had been sitting there looking between the two, trying his hardest to incorporate what the two were saying all the while still trying to make the design an actual baby bed.

"Come one, Rouge, we have the chance to build Ace's bed! We can have it look like anything we want!" Roger exclaimed, holding his poorly drawn sketch up as if to convince her.

Rouge only shook her head. "No, that is ridiculous, Roger! Where is the functionality?"

"We both know I don't know what that means," Roger said with a grin. Rouge sighed.

Magra sighed too. He put the pen down and put his head in his hands. It was impossible to please both at the same time, seeing as neither could decide on a bed that was appropriate for Ace. In his opinion both beds were just as good as the other since they served their purpose, the only difference being that Roger's design was more decorative while Rouge's was, as she'd said herself, focused more on functionality.

"We're going to be here for a while," Dogra said. "Maybe some of you should go ready some wood."

Magra nodded, "That is a good idea."

Bowdre put his hands on his hips as he waved for the men to follow him. "Come on, let's get the axes. You too, Roger! We can use the man power."

"Hey, is it really okay to give him a weapon?" one of the bandits asked in a hushed whisper, eyeing Roger not so discreetly. "I mean, he is the Pirate King !"

Bowdre rolled his eyes. It was clear that he was no longer as scared of Roger as the rest of the group. "Exactly! If he wanted us dead, I doubt he'd need an axe. Come on, let's get a move on!"

"But I want to stay and do the crib," Roger said pointing at the few sketches they had managed to produce - half of which was made up of poorly drawn designs by either of the two parents.

"Staying here won't do us any good, we're not getting anywhere," Bowdre said. "Chopping down some trees might clear your head. Who knows, maybe you'll come up with something on the way."

The pirate mused it over in his head, before shrugging and getting up to follow the others. He turned to Rouge and offered her a hand, "Come with us, too."

She smiled, but shook her head. She sent a quick glance towards the baby-box where Ace was sleeping. "I don't want to leave Ace alone," she said.

"He's not alone," Roger said. He pointed towards the bandit's with his thumb. "These guys are with him."

"I mean, I don't want to leave Ace alone without either of us here," she said. "I'll go with you some other time."

Roger crouched down in front of Rouge and kissed her. He grinned as he grabbed Rouge's hand and ran a thumb over her knuckles. Rouge hummed as she lifted her head upward to meet him.

It was odd to see Roger be so affectionate. During the week the two had spent up on the mountain, most of the bandits expectations had already been crushed into dust. But that didn't mean it wasn't still an almost unreal sight to behold as Roger smiled at the strawberry blonde as if she was the ground he walked on. As if the man and the king were two different people.

The portrayal of Roger in the news did not fit the man they all saw before them, this loving father and husband that cared the world for his family. This man could not be the same Gold Roger as the Pirate King, Magra thought. It was almost impossible to believe.

* * *

He followed the bandits behind the house past the bathhouse. There at the far back there was a door leading into a part of the house Roger hadn't been to before. It wasn't visible from the front and was well hidden in the darker parts of the backyard, as if to keep it a secret.

"This is the storage," Bowdre explained, pulling a key out of his pocket. He stuck it in the lock and after shaking it a few times it clicked open. The door swung up with a grisly sound as the bandit pushed it open.

The inside was full of tools, some of which Roger recognized - like the rope, the many barrels of what he guessed was either alcohol or gunpowder and the gun's stacked against the far wall - and then there were tools he'd never seen before. He figured they weren't for fighting, since he'd seen all kinds of weaponry as a pirate.

"Have you ever handled an axe before?" Folliard asked as he plucked an axe from the long row hanging from the wall. It had a leather strap over the head.

"I know how to use a cutlass, can't be too different," Roger said with a grin and grabbed an axe himself.

He removed the leather coverage and ran a thumb over the sharp edge. It was really blunt, he noticed. His own sword, which he had stacked away in their room, was sharp enough that just brushing against the edge would leave a cut. This axe barely left a scratch.

"What are you doing?! Do you want to lose your fingers?!" Folliard exclaimed.

"It's pretty blunt, isn't it?" Roger said, weighing the axe in his hand. "Is it supposed to be that blunt?"

"We haven't had a chance to sharpen them yet, but they should still do the trick," Follliad said. "You have no fear, do you?"

"Not of something like an axe," Roger smiled, tossing the axe in the air and catching it again.

* * *

There were plenty of trees up on the mountain, but they group of bandits - and Roger - still made their war far up the mountain and away from the house. Bowdre had explained that it was because if they cut down the tree's closer to home there might be the risk of some of the ones closest to the house would fall and crash right into it.

It took them awhile, but after some walking, they came to a clearing where a lot of the tree's were already cut down leaving nothing but stumps behind. It was the bandits usual spot for wood.

"Alright, men, pick a tree and start cutting," Bowdre said. "We don't need more than five big strong ones, but chop down an extra two or three small ones for firewood!"

The bandits nodded and got to work.

"Alright, Roger," Bowdre said, turning towards the man. He blinked when he noticed that Roger was no longer standing behind him.

He looked around the clearing, finding Roger holding the axe like one would a sword and swinging it against a tree.

"Oi! That's not how you use an axe!"

Roger stopped in the middle of a swing and turned towards the bandit. "It's not?"

"No, you can't just swing it," Bowdre explained, hurrying over. "You have to cut at the same spot and with care so that the tree doesn't fall the wrong way."

Bowdre sighed. "Here let me," he said, taking the axe from Roger.

He started with showing Roger how to hold the axe only to be cut out by the large tree Roger had been cutting fall down on the ground with a loud thud. There was a large hole in the wood where Roger had punched it. Said man was now grinning beside him, looking proudly at the fallen tree.

"I didn't need axe, after all," he laughed.

Bowdre wasn't sure what to think.

* * *

A loud roar echoed through the clearing, freezing all of the bandits in the middle of their work. A large boar was standing by the foliage, an angry gleam in his eyes and his hoof digging into the ground. His eyes were fixated on the group and he did not look pleased.

"Shit!" one of the bandits yelled.

They quickly got into defensive positions, ready to attack the boar, but before they could move Roger had already done so. He ran straight at the large creature who had with a grunt started off straight towards the pirate.

The bandits could just stare in shock as the Pirate King raised his fist - did it just turn black? - and with a swift punch sent the board flying across the forest floor and into a tree. A loud screech could be heard from the animal and for a moment they all believed it to be dead.

Then the boar stood up on unstable legs and shook its head. It quickly collected it's thoughts before turning back towards Roger and took off with amazing speed. The man grinned from ear to ear as he grabbed the animal by the tusks and, like flipping a coin, lifted the boar high up into the air and slammed it back down so hard the ground shook with the impact. Some of the bandits even lost balance and fell with the shockwave.

This time, they were all sure, the boar was dead.

* * *

Later, as the dark fell and all the wood was collected and stacked, tied together with rope to be brought back to the house, they had all sat down by a fire and cooked the boar. Now they were all munching away.

"So, what's the grand line like?" a bandits asked as they sat munching on their own selective pieces of meat. They had all snagged at least one piece before Roger started inhaling the rest.

The man blinked, mouth full. He then started talking, waving with his hands in the air wildly and laughing on the occasion as if he was expecting them all to understand what he was saying.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Folliard said, who was sitting closest to Roger.

Roger swallowed. "It's amazing!" was the first thing he said. "It's endless! And it's full of all these interesting people."

He went into a long tale of how he and Whitebeard had once helped out a viking like culture in the New World with a revolution on pure accident, all because they somehow ended up with the island's chief's daughter who after ending up on Roger's ship met Whitebeard and had taken a liking to the man's third commander, Jozu.

* * *

In the end, they all decided on an oval design for the grib with a headboard shaped like the back of a traditional pirate ship. The white insignia of Roger's pirate crew had been painted on the inside of the food of the crib, so that whenever Ace woke up or fell asleep he would see it watching over him, Roger had said.

Rouge had complied, as long as the crib was painted white instead of the red Roger had suggested. She had rolled her eyes at the color, since pretty much everything the man had owned used to be red - the few times she'd been onboard his pirate ships, his quarters had always been painted in different shades of red.


End file.
